Voices, Never Gone
by Crescent Sunrise
Summary: A gift for the great author, Dongyrn! This is a one shot continuation of the story titled, Voices. No other summary needed. If you haven't read the previous story, this'll make no sense. Happy Reading!


_**A/N: One more time, if you haven't read Voices yet, check it out on Dongyrn's profile!**_

 _ **Voices, Never Gone**_

Blake stared out the window with tired eyes. Most people who looked to at her might think that she was sad, or that life had finally caught up with her. Granted she _was_ getting old now, older than she had any right to be, really. And it was all thanks to a little voice in her head.

 _*Hey, come on, babe. After all these years, you still think you can call me that? That's_ Purdie _mean of you.*_

She sighed, but the small smile on her face would've betrayed her to anyone watching, "Yang, how many times have you used that one now?"

 _*Couldn't tell you. I don't remember.*_

"You are such a liar."

She heard Yang gasp, * _What? How dare you call me a liar, I have been the conscience you never asked for!*_

"I suppose that would expl- _"_ Blake was cut off by her own coughs, wet and gravelly all at once. The harshness of it was amplified by the more noticeable tone of her heart monitor rattling off at an alarming pace.

* _Blakey!_ *

 _I'm fine, Yang,_ we're _fine._ She thought to the woman, her voice failing her.

 _*The hell we are Blake, I can feel it! The water, Blake, try and drink some water… that's it kitten, breathe. Just breathe.*_

Blake had done as she was instructed. The fits were getting more common now, something the doctors had said would happen. She could feel it. Really feel it now, her body was dying… hers and Yang's body was dying… and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

* _Hey, don't go crying on me now, Blakey. It's not your fault.*_

 _No. I guess it isn't, but you wouldn't think that a terminal lung disease would be the way for a couple of badass Huntresses to go out, given all the cardio we do, huh?_

Yang's reply was cut off as a couple of nurses rushed into the hospital room along with an attending doctor. The crisis had passed but it was a near thing. The attending doctor spoke, "I'm sorry Miss Belladonna, but your condition is deteriorating faster than expected. We can give you something for the pain but… there simply isn't anything else to be done. Your aura levels have been steadily dropping over the last few hours-"

"How long, doctor?" Blake already knew what was happening. She and Yang could feel it anyway.

He hesitated, not really a good sign, "Not long. Like I said, your aura is failing at a steady and alarming rate. Two days, probably less."

 _That_ sent a stab of fear through her and Yang's alarm was just as evident, "But what about Weiss and Ruby? They need to be here."

* _Calm down, Blake_.*

 _They're all we have left, Yang!_

 _*I know, please calm down.*_

"We've already contacted the Rose family. They will be here soon," he assured.

 **o o o**

When Weiss and Ruby walked in later in the evening they were looking distraught. Blake and Yang couldn't really blame them though, hardly forty years old and they were coming to what would be the deathbed of not one, but two friends… two sisters.

They made sure that the door was closed securely before they came to the bedside, "Blake, Yang, how are you?" Ruby tried to keep a strong appearance, but, it was clear that she and Weiss had both been crying.

Blake reached out with a weak hand and rubbed Ruby's cheek, "Hey, Rubbles," everyone smiled at that, "I'm sorry but, we're not doing great."

Ruby's tears came like nothing, but she didn't sob or vocalize her strife.

It was Weiss who asked the question though, "How long?" she couldn't even string those two words together without cracking. She desperately held out a hand to both Ruby and herself, Blake could feel the simple gold band on the girl's ring finger.

Blake smiled sadly, "I don't think we're going to wake up in the morning, Weissicle."

Ruby couldn't take it anymore, she leaned into Blake and cried loudly, "This isn't fair! I can't lose you both! I can't!"

* _Hey, Blake, let me take the wheel here_.*

Blake didn't hesitate, she and Yang had worked on this for years now, it was like second nature. Her own vision took on a hazier feel as Yang came to the forefront.

"Rubbles, it's me." It was still surreal, hearing the inflection that was all Yang, coming from her own voice.

"Yang." Ruby couldn't say anything else.

"I know, Little Rose. I know."

"This isn't fair, Yang!" Ruby was raising her voice now.

"Life ain't always fair, Ruby. We all know that better than most."

"I can't do it, Yang. I can't leave you and Blake!"

Blake could feel the tug of the sad smile, "You don't have to. This isn't goodbye, Ruby. This is 'until next time'".

Blake was surprised at the confidence she felt in that statement, so was Ruby and Weiss by their expressions.

"What? Come on, Rubbles, I've already died once. Death isn't the end, not if we don't want it to be. We _never_ have to say goodbye."

Weiss spoke up again, "Yang…"

"There isn't much to think about here. Just think of it like we're going on a mission, and when you're ready, you'll join us. Blake and me just need to head out sooner than expected, is all."

 _Yang… what aren't you saying?_

 _*Don't worry kitten, I'm just getting everything out before it's time.*_ Blake felt it like a jolt as she came back into focus, Yang falling back into the recesses of their crowded mind.

"Yang?" Blake was behind the wheel again, "Yang, what's wrong?" Weiss and Ruby looked as alarmed as she felt.

* _Nothing's wrong, Blakey, I'm saving my energy._ *

"What do mean nothing's wrong? You-" she felt it then, as their aura winked out suddenly from trying to heal what just _wouldn't_. It was suddenly hard to breathe right.

"Blake?" Ruby and Weiss cried out.

She could hardly get the words out, "It's happening."

"No. No, no, no, no! Not yet!" Blake couldn't tell who was speaking anymore. It hardly mattered, she just needed to say what needed to be said before she couldn't.

"Remember what Yang said. It's just," she hacked and she tasted blood in her mouth, she tried to swallow it down so Ruby wouldn't see, "just a mission, Rubbles, just a mission. Say it, Ruby."

"Blake-"

"-Say it, Ruby." She didn't have much more left.

Ruby cried, "It's just a mission. It's just a mission and we'll see you when it's our turn."

Weiss nodded and she leaned in, kissing Blake on the forehead, "We love you both so much, Blake, so much. Even your puns, Yang."

Then Yang used the energy she was saving.

 _Long ago, before we met  
I dreamed about you  
The peace you'd bring  
The songs we'd sing  
The way you'd make things new_

Blake smiled, even as the pain in her chest became nearly unbearable, "She's singing."

 _And on that day, I made a vow  
Whispered and true  
No matter what, no matter how  
I made this promise to you_

I will cling, I will clutch  
I'll hold onto you, I won't turn away  
I won't leave, I won't go  
I will stay with you all our days

Blake wasn't listening to anything else now. Not the heart monitor, not Ruby begging them not leave, she could only hear Yang's voice. Slightly off key and a little too gravelly for the song.

It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard.

 _But things in life will rearrange  
Friends come and go  
Don't ever doubt, don't ever fear  
I'm always here and you know_

I will cling, I will clutch  
I'll hold onto you, I won't turn away  
I won't leave, I won't go  
I will stay with you all our days...

I will stay with you all our days...

And then they were gone.

 **o o o**

The sun was warm, she felt the grass as it tickled the back of her neck and along her arms. Opening her eyes, Blake slowly sat up and looked around what had to be the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. The colors were so vibrant, the greens from the tall trees that surrounded the glade that kept this gem from the world around it. The hues of the multitude of flowers that she couldn't possibly name.

Then she remembered the hospital room.

"Yang?"

Silence.

"...Yang?"

Nothing from her mind. She couldn't feel the crowded sensation of the blonde woman in her mind.

"Wow, this place is one heck of a shindig, huh?"

Blake whipped her head around and saw something she didn't even hope to dream of. Yang Xiao Long in the flesh, standing under an archway that led to parts unknown. But Blake didn't care, she only saw the love of her life standing before her like nothing was amiss. She hadn't appeared to have aged a day since she died and entered her mind all those years ago.

Yang gave her a cheeky grin and wave, "It's good to see you, Blakey. You took your time waking up. I was getting a little worried."

Blake just bolted to her feet, she felt as a clone appeared behind her as she spring boarded off of it and across the clearing into Yang's arms and toppling them both.

"Whoa there girl-"

Blake just soundly kissed her. For the first time ever, Blake finally got to kiss the woman she loved. Yang did not disappoint.

For who knows how long, Blake and Yang lied under the archway, hands going everywhere and nowhere, their clothes seemed to come of them of their own accord as what had to have been hours dragged on and on.

The gasps and cries of ecstasy echoed through the garden around them, the sounds of life in the forest around them like a symphony to go along with their endless lovemaking. Hours later, the sun that had been high in the sky was giving off the hues that said that night was falling. Blake laid almost atop the naked form of Yang as she just _felt her._ Familiarizing herself with the body she never thought she'd ever touch.

Yang eventually lifted Blake like she was nothing and placed her in her lap, embracing her with all the love she could feel when Yang had been in her head.

"You were asleep for a long time, kitten."

Blake pulled back a bit and looked at Yang, "What do you mean?"

Yang shrugged, "Well, I guess it wasn't too long, a couple of days, I guess. You and me kind of just… popped up here. You had this peaceful smile on your face when I woke up beside you. I guess after having me in your head for twenty some odd years tuckered you out, even after you died," she joked.

"So that's it? We're… dead? And this is…"

"Heaven, I guess. Or at least this is your part of it I think."

"Mine?" Blake questioned.

"Yeah, I think mine is down the path here," Yang gestured down the mellow forest path the Blake noticed was even and laid out with beautiful stonework. "You and me are a package deal though, so I woke up here with you when you didn't seem quite ready yet. I popped up here just as you were waking up though, Heaven seems to be pretty convenient like that. But I was just about to beat Uncle Qrow at Immortal Combat, even with that broken character Soaring Ninja!"

Blake looked surprised, "Your uncle is here?" Blake glanced around, mortified that that man might have seen the things that she had gotten Yang to scream over the last number of hours.

Yang laughed, "Nah, don't worry about him, I think he gathered what was happening when I popped away… he wasn't too happy I was here, though. But, that's just how things go."

"Are you okay, Yang?" The blonde didn't answer right away, but she was thinking about it very much it seemed.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. You're awake now, so yeah, I'm okay. Happy actually."

"Happy? We're dead, Yang!"

"And? That just means I get to love you forever. I think time moves differently here. Uncle Qrow said he hadn't been here too long… Summer is here too, you know. I think everyone will be... eventually."

Blake was a little overwhelmed by everything, "Yang, can we just… stay here for a while longer? I need to get everything straight in my head again, since I have all that extra space that you have so graciously vacated."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang pouted.

Blake smiled as she leaned in, nuzzling her face into Yang's neck and breathing deeply, she smelled like an interesting mix of lavender and a hint of Cherrywood smoke, "That there is so much of you to hold on to."

"Heh, I guess I could _live with that._ "

Blake just laughed, a belly laugh that she hadn't had in years came from her mouth, "You did not just say that!"

"I did." Yang sounded so damn smug about too, "and I think we have an eternity for me to come up with new material, why not help me out for when Ruby and Weiss get here? This may be paradise, but what's the fun without some jabs at the former Ice Queen?"

Blake held on all the tighter at the mention of who was left behind, "They weren't doing so good when we… left."

Yang bodily stood while picking up Blake in a bridal carry, getting a rather undignified squawk out of her. "Well, I don't doubt it. As much as _that_ particular bit of info hurts, we can't do much about it until they show up. So I say we try and enjoy ourselves and help them out when they get here, yeah?"

Blake fell against Yang and closed her eyes, "All right, Yang. But let's get our clothes on and just… let's just live."

"Yeah, let's just live. For all our days." The warmth in Yang's voice was like the heat from a comforting campfire.

"Yes. All our days."

 _ **A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed all of the Feels, feel them Feels!**_

 _ **Let me know what you think!**_

 _ **CS.**_


End file.
